Here are today’s headlines – the latest news in the Philippines and around the world:
- Copyright violations in 2025 poll campaigns continue despite reminders from IP groups
- 2 Malaysians in Bacolod love scam, trafficking case undocumented – CIDG
- Ex-Comelec commissioner Virgilio Garcillano dies
- Woman pulled alive from Myanmar earthquake rubble; race to find more survivors
- Alex Eala says ‘real work starts now’ after magical Miami Open run
https://www.rappler.com/video/daily-wrap/march-31-2025/
- Copyright violations in 2025 poll campaigns continue despite reminders from IP groups
- 2 Malaysians in Bacolod love scam, trafficking case undocumented – CIDG
- Ex-Comelec commissioner Virgilio Garcillano dies
- Woman pulled alive from Myanmar earthquake rubble; race to find more survivors
- Alex Eala says ‘real work starts now’ after magical Miami Open run
https://www.rappler.com/video/daily-wrap/march-31-2025/
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NewsTranscript
00:00Today on Rappler
00:15Copyright violations continue in the 2025 election campaigns.
00:18Undocumented Malaysians are arrested in Bacolod for scamming operations and human trafficking.
00:23Virgilio Garciliano of Hello Garci's scandal Infamy dies at 87.
00:28Military teams continue to search for 7.7-magnitude quake survivors in Myanmar.
00:33And Filipina tennis star Alex Ayala says the real work starts now, following her Miami
00:38Open run.
00:41Rapper Omar Baleo and Filipino band Lola Amor say their songs were used as jingles in political
00:46campaigns for the 2025 elections without their permission.
00:50Baleo filed a complaint on March 24 against controversial senatorial candidate Apollo
00:54Kibuloy, claiming his song, KNB, was used by Kibuloy's team without his consent.
00:59Meantime, Lola Amor on March 29 called out campaigns for using their hit song, Raining
01:04in Manila, as a jingle without their consent.
01:07In a comment on their Facebook post, the band adds, they would never endorse a candidate
01:11whose platform they didn't believe in or know.
01:13This is not the first time the band has encountered alleged intellectual property theft.
01:17In October 2023, the same song was used in campaigns for the Barangay and Sangguniang
01:21Kabataan elections.
01:23These released statements to raise awareness about intellectual property rights during
01:26the campaign period.
01:28In February 2022, music copyright group Philscap reminded campaigns they need artists' permission
01:34to play copyrighted songs, use as background music, or change the lyrics for a candidate.
01:41To help you make the best decision of who to vote for, we have all the information you
01:44need in one place, the Rappler election site.
01:48From comprehensive election guides and explainers, to profiles of candidates, both national and
01:52local, we bring you a newsfeed of all the latest updates on voters' issues and campaign
01:57moments.
01:58Check it out at ph.rappler.com.
02:02Bacolod police arrest two undocumented Malaysians for love scam operations and qualified human
02:07trafficking.
02:08The suspects, identified only as Sam Fon and a certain Abao, did not have passports or
02:13any documents to justify their presence in Bacolod.
02:17The Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group says 60-year-old Fon has
02:21been staying in Bacolod for 10 years and is well-versed in the local dialect Hiligaynon,
02:26while Fon's nephew Abao had only been in Bacolod for about a year.
02:30The two were found to be luring young women with modeling jobs, then later using them
02:34for online scams, primarily targeting European and American clients.
02:39Police say the two also hired more than 100 Bacolod residents as virtual assistants or
02:43call center agents for the operation.
02:46Seven workers were also rescued during the raid.
02:49The suspects are detained at the CIDG Bacolod headquarters and have been charged with violating
02:53qualified human trafficking.
02:57Former Commission on Elections Commissioner Virgilio Garciliano, who was a key figure
03:01in the 2004 Hello Garci election scandal, died on Saturday, March 29.
03:06He was 87.
03:08Kamalek Region 10 Director Renato Magbutay confirmed his death.
03:11He said Garciliano died after collapsing in his family farmhouse in Bukidnon Saturday
03:16night.
03:17The Hello Garci scandal was a 2004 wiretapping controversy which featured a conversation
03:22between then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Garciliano on the canvassing of the 2004
03:28election results.
03:29Arroyo later admitted that the voice on the tape was hers, but claimed she was simply
03:33monitoring her votes and not directing Garciliano to engage in election fraud.
03:37Garciliano became a fugitive after the scandal broke, and in 2005, Congress launched a probe
03:43into the issue.
03:44In an attempt to prove he didn't leave the country during the height of the scandal,
03:48Garciliano presented a passport, which was later found to be fake, and led to his 2014
03:53perjury indictment.
03:57Rescuers save a woman from the ruins of a hotel in Myanmar
04:00A Chinese government Facebook post says the woman was rescued from the rubble of the Great
04:04Wall Hotel in the city of Mandalay and was reported to be in a stable condition.
04:09This gives hope three days after a 7.7 magnitude quake on Friday that killed around 2,000 people
04:14as search teams in Myanmar and Thailand raced against time to find more survivors.
04:19Mandalay is close to the epicenter of the quake, which caused massive damage in Myanmar
04:24and some damage in neighboring Thailand.
04:26In Bangkok, emergency teams resumed their search on Monday for 76 people who are believed
04:31to be trapped under the rubble of a collapsed skyscraper under construction.
04:35Red Cross officials say Myanmar is facing a humanitarian crisis and the need for aid
04:40is increasing.
04:41Regional Director for Asia-Pacific at the International Federation of Red Cross and
04:45Red Crescent Society's Alexander Matthews says,
04:49"...this is not just a disaster.
04:51It's a complex humanitarian crisis layered over existing vulnerabilities."
04:58Filipina tennis star Alex Ayala says,
05:00"...the real work starts now.
05:03Knowing her success in the Miami Open will bring both new opportunities and challenges."
05:08Ayala says in her post,
05:10"...I recognize that these two weeks have opened the door to so many opportunities for
05:14me.
05:15But along with those opportunities come a whole new set of obstacles I will have to
05:18navigate through."
05:19Ayala made history as the first Filipino to reach the semifinals of a WTA 1000 event,
05:25defeating Grand Slam champions Iga Sviatik, Madison Keys, and Yelena Ostampenko.
05:30Although her journey ended in the semifinals against World No. 4 Jessica Pegula, Ayala
05:35said she leaves Miami beaming with pride and gratitude.
05:38Ranked 140 in the world, Ayala rose to a career-high No. 75, giving her a chance to enter Grand
05:44Slam tournaments directly.
05:46Her 65-spot jump in the world rankings is the biggest leap of any tennis player in the
05:50Top 300.
05:53And that's today's wrap.
05:54I'm Kara Oliver.
05:57Click the link below for the full story.
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